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Overview

From New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter comes the long-awaited story of Torin, the most dangerous Lord of the Underworld yet

Fierce immortal warrior. Host to the demon of Disease. Torin's every touch causes sickness and deathand a worldwide plague. Carnal pleasure is utterly forbidden, and though he has always overcome temptation with an iron will, his control is about to shatter.

She is Keeleycael. The Red Queen. When the powerful beauty with shocking vulnerabilities escapes from a centuries-long imprisonment, the desire that simmers between her and Torin is scorching. His touch could mean her end, but resisting her is the hardest battle he's ever foughtand the only battle he fears he can't win.

About the Author

Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over fifty books, including the acclaimed Lords of the Underworld and Angels of the Dark series, and the White Rabbit Chronicles. She writes sizzling paranormal romance, heartwarming contemporary romance, and unputdownable young adult novels, and lives in Oklahoma City with her family and menagerie of dogs. Visit her at GenaShowalter.com.

Read an Excerpt

The Darkest Touch

Harlequin Enterprises Limited

"Don't die. Don't you dare die." Frantic, Torin dug through a backpack crammed with clothing, weapons and medical supplies. He'd packed it days ago, blindly filling it with everything he'd thought he might need. There was no mouth guard. Fine. He'd proceed without one.

He hurried to his companion's motionless form, straddled her waist. Her precious life slipped away with every second that passed. CPR was a last resort, but suddenly her only hope, and because they were locked inside a dungeon, no one else inside their cell, the responsibility belonged to him alone. The guy who'd rarely ever come this close to another person.

Just call me Wonder Doc.

He flattened his gloved hands over Mari's delicate chest—still, too still. But rather than proceed as he should have, he found himself pausing to savor the rare and extraordinary connection with the opposite sex. So soft. So luscious.

What the hell am I doing? Jaw clenched, he pushed. Crack.

Too hard. He'd just broken her sternum and probably several of her ribs.

Guilt pierced straight through his heart, and if the organ hadn't already been shredded beyond repair, it might have hurt. Sweat trickled down his temples as he pressed against Mari's chest more gently. Nothing else broke. Good. Okay. He pressed again and again, gradually increasing his speed. But how fast was too fast? What helped? What damaged?

"Come on, Mari." She was human, but strong. Fragile, but resilient. "Stay with me. You can survive this, I know you can."

Her head lolled to the side, her glassy eyes staring out at nothing.

"No. No!" He checked her for a pulse, waited ... but never felt even the weakest of beats.

As he returned his hands to her chest to start over, his gaze locked on her blood-splattered lips; his mind willed them to part, a cough to escape. It would mean the sickness still plagued her, but sick was better than dead any day of the week.

"Mari, please." He heard the desperation in his voice, didn't care. I can't be the one to kill someone so sweet.

Torin pushed harder, heard another crack.

Hell. He wasn't some pansy crier, but damn if tears didn't scald the backs of his eyes.

He'd come to think of this girl as a friend, and despite the numerous centuries he'd lived, he didn't have many of those. He always protected the ones he had.

Until her.

If not for him, she never would have sickened in the first place.

Again he felt for a pulse. Still no beat.

Cursing, he set back to work. Five minutes ... ten ... twenty. He was Mari's life support, the only thing standing between her and death; he would do this however long proved necessary.

Pull through, Mari. You have to pull through.

"Fight this!" But as another eternity elapsed without any change in her, he finally admitted his efforts weren't doing any good. She was already gone.

Already dead.

And there was nothing he could do to bring her back.

With a roar, Torin wrenched away and paced the cell like the caged animal he was. His arms shook. His back and thighs ached. But what was physical pain compared to mental? Emotional? This was his fault. He'd known what would happen if ever he touched the girl, and he'd lured her closer anyway.

Monster! With another roar, he punched the wall, enjoying the unrelenting throb of pain as skin split and bones fractured. He punched again and again, cracks appearing in the stone, dust pluming around him.

If he had just stopped to question why a girl like Mari would be so starved for companionship she would agree to be with him she would still be alive.

He pressed his forehead against the battered wall. I'm keeper of the demon of Disease. When will I accept the fact that I'm meant to fly solo?

To be forever denied what I crave most.

"Mari, darling," a slightly accented voice rang out. Female ... delicious—even soaked in panic and pain as it was. "The bond is broken. Why is it broken?"

The blood in Torin's veins turned into fuel, igniting as if a blazing match had just been thrown inside him. He became increasingly aware of his own heartbeat, speeding up, the need to stalk to the cell's door and rip away every metal bar consuming him; anything to erase the distance between him and the speaker.

An extreme reaction. He knew that. Just as he knew such excruciating awareness of another person was unusual for him. It was also uncontrollable and unstoppable, his entire world centering around this one woman.

And this wasn't the first time it had happened. Anytime she'd spoken, no matter the words she'd uttered, the huskiness of her tone had always carried a promise of absolute pleasure. As if there were nothing she wanted more than to kiss, lick and suck on him.

"I shook her hand." The words exploded from him, bitter and cutting. "That's it." But he'd done far more than that, hadn't he.

He'd put a lot of time and effort into charming her. Feeding her. Talking and laughing with her. Eventually she'd felt comfortable enough to remove one of his gloves and intertwine their fingers. On purpose.

Nothing bad will happen, she had said. Or maybe her gaze had said it. The details were hazed by the fog of his eagerness. You'll see.

He'd believed her. Because he'd wanted to believe her more than he'd wanted to take his next breath. He'd held on to her so tightly, a thirsty man who'd just discovered the last glass of water in a world burning to ash, nearly brought to his knees by the force of his physical response. Sensation after sensation had overwhelmed him. Feminine softness so near his masculine hardness. A floral scent in his nose. The ends of her silky hair tickling his wrist. Her warmth blending with his own. Her breath intersecting with his.

I experienced an instant connection, immediate bliss, and very nearly creamed my damn jeans. From a handshake.

She'd died from it.

With him, it never mattered if the touch was accidental or intentional, or if the victim was human or animal, young or old, male or female ... good or evil; any living creature sickened soon after contact with him. Even immortals like himself. Difference was, immortals sometimes survived, becoming carriers of whatever illness they'd contracted from him, capable of spreading it to others. As a human, Mari had never even stood a chance.

"Tell me the truth," his obsession demanded. "Every detail."

He didn't know her name or if she was human or immortal. He only knew Mari had made a deal with the devil to save her.

The two women had been imprisoned here for centuries—wherever "here" was—for no real crime Torin could perceive. Cronus, the prison's owner, had never really needed a reason to ruin someone's life.

He'd certainly helped ruin Torin's.

He had owed Torin a favor, and Torin, being Torin, had chosen to overlook the male's shady reputation and ask for a woman who wouldn't sicken at his touch. Cronus, being Cronus, hadn't bothered to search for a suitable candidate and had simply recruited one of his prisoners—sweet, innocent Mari.

"Cronus made a deal with the girl," Torin said.

"I know that." His obsession huffed and puffed, a veritable big, bad wolf. "Mari was cursed to flash to your bedroom one hour a day for nearly a month, all in the hopes of convincing you to touch her."

"Yes," he croaked. And in return, Cronus had promised to set her dearest friend free—the woman currently grilling Torin for answers.

No big surprise Cronus had lied.

At least he got his in the end.

Torin had wanted to haul ass to a hospital the moment he'd realized Mari was sick, but that stupid curse had bound her to this prison with invisible chains. She'd had to return. Left with no other option, Torin had held on to her as she'd moved from one location to another in a blink, traveling with her. He'd tended her to the best of his ability.

But his best hadn't been good enough. Would never be good enough.

"I don't care about the whys," the female said. "Only the outcome. What is Mari doing right now?"

Decomposing.

Can't say it, just ... can't. Silent, he removed his gloves and used his hands as a shovel, throwing scoop after scoop of dirt over his shoulder. Not the first makeshift grave I've dug, but I hereby vow it will be my last. No more impromptu friendships. No more hopes and dreams for what could never be. I'm done.

"Ignoring me?" she asked. "Do you have any idea the being you provoke?"

Torin never paused in his task. He would bury Mari. He would find a way out of this hellhole. He would continue the job he'd abandoned when he'd chosen to come with the girl. The search and rescue of Cameo and Viola, who'd gone missing several weeks ago—friends who comprehended his need for distance.

"I am Keeleycael, the Red Queen, and I will be more than happy to take a coat hanger and fish out all of your internal organs ... through your mouth."

Disease went still and quiet.

That, too, was a first.

The Red Queen. The title was somehow familiar to Torin. From a children's storybook, yes, but there was more to it than that. He'd heard it ... where? An image flashed through his mind. A dilapidated bar in the skies. Yes, of course. While working for Zeus, the king of the Greeks, he'd tracked many fugitive immortals there. The words the Red Queen had been whispered behind the trembling hands of fearful men and women, right along with insane and cruel.

He'd always enjoyed pitting his skills against the strongest and vilest of predators, and such a visceral reaction to the supposed Red Queen had intrigued him. But when he'd asked the whisperers who she was and what she could do, they had gone quiet.

Maybe this prisoner was the one they'd spoken of, maybe she wasn't. Hardly mattered anymore. He wouldn't be fighting her.

"Keeleycael," he said. "That's quite a mouthful. How about I call you Keeley instead?"

"I usually prefer Torin, Hotness or The Awesome." Nicknames to help smile through the pain. Should probably have gone with Proctalgia Fugax—meaning a literal pain in the ass.

"Why has Mari gone silent, Torin?" Keeley asked as if they were discussing nothing more important than tomorrow's dinner menu. (Rat casserole.)

She knew Mari was dead, didn't she? Making him admit it was some sort of punishment.

"Before you reply," she added, "you should know I would rather save the enemy who tells me the truth than the friend who tells me lies."

Not a bad motto. Lie and die happened to be his.

And, really, if the situation were reversed, he would have wanted the same thing: answers. But again, if the situation were reversed and she had led to the demise of one of his friends, he would have moved heaven and earth to administer justice. But trapped as they were in these cells created for the strongest of immortals, there was nothing she could do but stew in her rage, helpless as the emotion grew darker and darker, perhaps even driving her mad. It was a cruel fate. It was also an excuse.

Such oppressive silence and, with it, darkness, as if they'd somehow fallen into a sensory-deprivation tank.

He spoke in a desperate bid to dull his mounting sorrow, explaining, "Since you know about Cronus's deal with Mari, you must know I'm a Lord of the Underworld. One of the fourteen warriors responsible for stealing and opening Pandora's box, unleashing the demons from within. As punishment, we were each cursed to house one of those demons inside our own bodies. I was given Disease, the world's worst SSTD. Skin-to-skin-transmitted disease. I make people sick. That's what I do, and there's no stopping it. She touched me, like I said. We touched each other. But that's all it took. She died. She's dead," he repeated hollowly.

Again silence.

He locked his jaw to prevent himself from admitting the other Lords hosted baddies like Violence, Death and Pain. That thousands of innocents had died at their hands, and thousands more had lamented the vileness of their deeds. That, despite everything, none of his friends were as wretched as Disease. They chose their victims. Torin did not.

What a freaking prize I am.

Who would ever want him? Single immortal male looking for someone to love—and murder.

He couldn't even comfort himself with memories of past lovers. When he'd lived in the skies, he'd concerned himself with his war duties and very little else, women nothing more than an afterthought ... until his body demanded attention. But every time he'd chosen a lover, his warrior instincts to dominate and subdue had overtaken him, and his unintentional roughness had made the females cry before their clothes had ever come off. Which meant their clothes had never come off.

Perhaps he could have coaxed the females to continue, but his disgust with himself had been too great. He excelled on the battlefield but couldn't master the mechanics of sex?

Humiliating.

Now he would trade what little remained of his integrity for skin-to-skin anything, desperate to have what he'd once disdained, unable to fight his enemies in the down-and-dirty way he'd once—still—loved.

"Torin," Keeley said, and despite the strain he heard, he still reacted with the same raw hunger as before. "You realize you killed an innocent girl, yes?"

He settled in the hole he'd dug, pulled on his gloves and rested his head against his upraised palms. "Yes." His gaze flicked to Mari. She might have known about his condition, but some part of her must have trusted him to keep her safe.

Now look at her.

"Torin," Keeley said again. "Have you also realized I will punish you for your crime?"

Editorial Reviews

"With compelling stories and memorable characters, Gena Showalter never fails to dazzle."-Jeaniene Frost, New York Times bestselling author

"For fans of expertly written, gritty paranormal romance that is laced with hope, Showalter has just the book for you."-RT BookReviews on Burning Dawn

"Showalter does her magic with an intricately developed world, complex and intensive character arcs and dark, compelling paranormal themes. She releases that literary punch to the gut with excruciatingly detailed scenes that haunt the senses long after reading the pages."-USA Today on Wicked Nights

"The Lords of the Underworld series...keeps getting more satisfying. Sometimes with a long-running series, characters or storylines can run their course, but not with Showalter's talent. The chemistry has never been hotter and both the characters and the world they live in are beautifully detailed."-RT Book Reviews on The Darkest Craving

"One of the premier authors of paranormal romance."-#1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole

"Passion, humor, pulse-pounding action and just plain fun...Showalter's books are always a refreshing escape!"-New York Times bestselling author Lara Adrian

"One of Showalter's biggest strengths is her ability to create wounded characters who are riveting and intense, but who also hold out the hope of redemption."-RT Book Reviews on Beauty Awakened

"Bold and witty, sexy and provocative."-New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips on Animal Instincts

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.5 stars, really.
From reading the past LOTU books, I have been waiting for what seems like forever for Torin's book. As soon as I started reading it I had to wonder if Gena actually wrote this book. The author's voice in this book is so completely different from all the other ones I have read of hers. It seriously felt as if she passed along the outline to someone else and let them write it. I didn't like it.
I could go on with the length, but others have also expressed my opinion. The same with it feeling repetitive. I skipped many paragraphs because of this.
Then there's Torin. Who the hell is this guy?! Where was the geeky shy(ish) guy we all got to know and love from previous books? Don't get me wrong, I kind of like this new take charge Torin, but he's not the keeper of Disease I was waiting for. I get that he found his other half, but c'mon!
I did, however, absolutely love the update regarding all the other Lords!
Now, who's story is next?!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I have been a fan of gena's books since the beginning but the editing and the writing has gone down hill lately. The story is about the keeper of disease and at one point in the book, there's a change to disaster. This book seems rushed and leaves much to be desired.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Showalter has been slacking lately. This book was by far the one I bounced in my seat for, but ultimately failed to deliver on the promise of a good plotline. There was way too much dialog and I had to force my way past the first few chapters. I honestly don't think they needed that much conversation between them, nor the death of Mari. Mari just had to be her friend, didn't she? I had hoped for more, same as I had hoped for more with J. R. Ward and her gay vampires, but that actually made me stop buying and reading the books fo a while. That is what this book has done. Things were just too unnecessary to be in there.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Absolutely wonderful story really draws you in and does not disappoint

Wiked_Kity

More than 1 year ago

As always, Showalter doesn't fail to entice with another story of one of our favorite Lords, Torin. Unfortunately at this point,her whole 'Deny, Deny, Deny... I want you!' Concept of a romance story is worn quite raw after 10 previous books of the same premise. Of course, it is nice to see the journey end now that everything is tied up nicely with Cronus and Rhea where they belong and the rest of the Lords and their ladies (or guy in Cameo's case) where they should be. A pretty little package. Add in Torin's 'Mine' who just happens to be able to help find what was lost, control the uncontrollable, and just figure out how things work in general... just made it all a little too easy and convenient. Glad to see a happy ending but it was pretty cheesy.

Charlayne

More than 1 year ago

Torin makes people sick. One touch from him can cause a pandemic that would kill people. And that extends to his immediate "family", the Lords of the Underworld. He has never been able to touch, much less have sex with a woman and he craves it. He is the keeper of the Demon of Disease, made so after he and the other Lords opened Pandora's Box. The Gods put each escaped demon in them as punishment.
Then he meets Keeley, the Red Queen, former love interest of Hades himself. Brash, extremely self assured and, from Torin's viewpoint, a big pain in the ass. But one that holds the keys to get Torin out of the realm he's found himself in, as well as rescue fellow Lord Cameo, the keeper of the Demon of Misery, Baden, the Keeper of Distrust who was killed and now lives as a spirit on the "other side", and Viola, a minor Goddess who houses the Demon of Narcissism. Keeley isn't sure she wants to help the Lord, who makes her sick, literally.
I love this one. I've always had a soft spot for poor Torin, at least the other guys (and girl) have the ability to touch someone. Torin has had to be covered and never feel the skin of a woman. He's tried and every one of the women have sickened and died and he knows that is his fault.
Keeley is...interesting. She's so "princess" that I have wanted someone to dump a box of ashes on her perfect self. She and Torin go back and forth, love then hate. And all the while she's seeming to audition for the part of the Shrew in the Shakespeare.
But they don't stay apart for long and the run through the realms trying to get home to the Lords castle gives them time to argue and fall for each other (as we know will happen). But it's how they end up falling that is the thing and I'm NOT going to spoil that for you.
Get this one, it's awesome. If you have not ever read the Lords of the Underworld, do not start with this one, go get "The Darkest Night" and start the whole series, I can guarantee you'll fall in love with the Lords and their ladies.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I love how the characters are fierce fighters with a loving soft side, it really balances the story out.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

She is awsome writer I love all of her books have not read one that I didn't love

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Best one yet!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Miss Showalter has done it again. She manages to spin the tale about Torin, the Keeper of Disease, with a spellbinding heroine of his own. I was so excited for Torin's story to come out and I'm so happy to finally know he is happy with someone whom is just as strong as himself. Miss Showalter does a phenomenal job in portraying Keelycael and Torin, they go through their rough patches, however, in the end they come together and remain happy. Miss Showalter weaves her take with excellent descriptive detail and a good building of character. I cannot wait for Cameo's story that will be coming out in June!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Be sure to read this series in order! You dont want to miss the whole wonderful story behind every one of the characters!
This was a highly anticapated story! We could not wait to see how Gena pulled this one off! And as always she did not disappoint! Another amazing novel!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Gena Showalter is one of my favorite authors, and Torin's story is something I have been waiting for! I loved it!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Awesome read!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I love Torin and Keys book. I'm so glad Torin finally found the love of his life in this amazing woman and Queen!! Lol! She's brilliant!! Gave him a run for his money! Great story lines and of course all the great characters!! Can't wait for William and Gillys book! Thank you for this amazing journey through all these books! Well written...well done!
We appreciate all the Blood..Sweat and Tears that goes into each and every page. Thank you ?
Deborah L. Cooney

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More than 1 year ago

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More than 1 year ago

While not my most favorite one I did really enjoy the book. I felt like it lacked a bit of depth that the others had. That being said I still enjoyed it because it has characters I've come to love. I'm really looking forward to William and Gilly's story!

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More than 1 year ago

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More than 1 year ago

Can't wait for the next:) I loved the red queen so much. Now if only I had cameo's story :):)

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I miss the old Gena Showalter Lords of the Underworld Books..... after the Darkest Whisper it was downhill from there.

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